COMMUNICATION STUDIES LIBRARIAN
Integrated Marketing Communication
Are you a graduate student in the IMC program? Check out this webpage curated with advanced research resources just for you:
Welcome!
Welcome to the Communication Studies Research Resources Guide! Within this guide, you will find information and links to Communication Studies related resources that pre-Communication Studies and Communication Studies should explore and incorporate into class papers, projects, and presentations. These resources have been vetted and curated by your librarian and COM faculty. We encourage you to start here for focused and high-quality resources!
APA Style Resources
The Department of Communication Studies uses the APA Style Guide for all formal class submissions. We recommend these resources to learn and use APA style guidelines.
- Excelsior Online Writing Lab: APA StyleOnline citation guide to APA style. Includes 6th and 7th edition materials.
- APA Style: In-Text CitationsFrom the APA, this webpage includes specific guidance for in-text citation, including formats for interviews, classroom and intranet sources, and personal communications; in-text citations in general; and paraphrases and direct quotations.
- APA Style: Reference ExamplesFrom the APA, this webpage includes specific guidance for citing the most common types of resources in references lists.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2020ISBN: 9781433832161Publication Date: 2019-10-01Find copies of the APA Publication Manual at the Research Help Desk and Circulation permanent course reserves on the first floor of Randall Library.
Recommended Article Databases
These library databases contain scholarly, peer-reviewed, and other high-quality sources. Include these databases early in your research.
- Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCO)Provides content in areas related to communication and mass media. CMMC incorporates the content of CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association) and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Penn State) along with numerous other journals in communication, mass media, and other closely-related fields of study to create a research and reference resource encompassing the breadth of the communication discipline. Find more information.
- Communications and Mass Media (Gale OneFile)Gale OneFile: Communications and Mass Media meets the needs of researchers with journal articles on all aspects of the communications field, including advertising, public relations, linguistics, and literature.
- JSTORArchive of selected scholarly journals in anthropology, art, art history, communication studies, criminology, ecology, economics, education, English, film studies, foreign languages and literatures, geography, geology, history, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, public and international affairs, religion, social work, sociology, statistics, theatre, and other humanities and social sciences. Find more information.
- APA PsycINFOThis database is the American Psychological Association (APA)'s renowned resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations. PsycINFO is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health, with ninety-nine percent of the covered material peer-reviewed. Find more information.
- Business Source UltimateBusiness Source Ultimate offers a wealth of peer-reviewed, full-text journals and other resources that provide historical information and current trends in business. View detailed company information on finances, subsidiaries, products, employees and industry specifics. Investigate a company through contextual access to related information including SWOT analyses, case studies, industry profiles, market research reports, and more.
- Social Sciences DatabasesSearch 29 databases related to the Social Sciences simultaneously.
News and Media Resources
These library databases contain high quality national, state, and local journalism and sources that can enrich your understanding and support your claims.
- America's NewspapersThe electronic editions of record for valuable local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers--all in one easy-to-search database. Each paper provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community.
- US NewsstreamProvides access to recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. Includes titles such as Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and co-exclusive access (with Factiva) to The Wall Street Journal. US Newsstream also offers one of the largest collections of local and regional newspapers, and is cross-searchable on the ProQuest platform. Part of ProQuest Central. Find more detailed information.
- Infotrac NewsstandInfoTrac Newsstand provides access to more than 2,300 major U.S. regional, national, and local newspapers, as well as leading titles from around the world. It also includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts.
- Star-NewsCoverage of the Wilmington Morning Star from 1868-1994, the Wilmington News from 1949-1975, and the Star-News from 1994-present.
- The Seahawk Newspaper Digital CollectionThis searchable digital collection covers the UNCW student newspaper from 1948 through 2019.
- North Carolina News SourcesNorth Carolina News Sources is a collection of more than 190 media sources from across the state, including the Wilmington Star News, the Charlotte Observer, and the Raleigh News & Observer.
- New York TimesNYTimes.com contains most of the articles that appear in the printed New York Times paper, as well as a wealth of blogs, interactive features, videos and other web-only content. Find more information.
- Wall Street JournalFollow the link to create an account on wsj.com/UNCW as a UNCW student/staff/faculty. Once you create an account you will have unlimited digital access to WSJ.com and the WSJ apps. Members can also access curated newsletters, podcasts and exclusive events/offers through WSJ+. Find more detailed information.
Learn about Research Methods
These sources are useful when you are doing a primary research project such as interviews, surveys, or content analysis. If you're looking for tests, measures, survey instruments, or questionnaires, we also recommend exploring the IMC research guide for additional help.
- Sage Research MethodsContains more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher. The site is designed to guide users to the content they need to learn a little or a lot about their method. Supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process. Access includes research methods case studies and datasets. Find more detailed information.
- ProQuest Research CompanionProQuest Research Companion contains more than 80 short videos are organized into nine Learning Modules that answer questions like "How do I choose a topic?" "Where do I find information?" and "How do I evaluate sources?" Different kinds of "pre" and "post" assessment questions make the viewing experience more interactive, while allowing educators to measure students’ learning and identify gaps in their understanding.
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781483381411Publication Date: 2017
Applied Communication Research Methods by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780429296444Publication Date: 2019A hands-on guide for applying research methods to common problems, issues, projects, and questions that communication practitioners deal with on a regular basis, this text demonstrates the relevance of research in professional roles and communication and media careers.
Research Design by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781462529995Publication Date: 2017This user-friendly book provides a step-by-step guide to using the five major approaches to research design: quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research.
Communication Research Measures II by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780805851335Publication Date: 2009-05-14
Communication Research Measures III by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780203730188Publication Date: 2019-09-20
- Communication Research Measures: James McCroskeyThis compilation consists of measures that have been developed by researchers at West Virginia University. They may be used for research or instructional purposes with no individualized permission.
- International Personality Item PoolIncludes more than 3,000 items and over 250 scales that have been constructed from the items. The items and scales are in the public domain, which means that one can copy, edit, translate, or use them for any purpose without asking permission and without paying a fee. Look up a trait and find a short list of items that seem to measure that construct.
Explore Open Access Repositories
The resources below are freely available databases that may include a variety of material: preprint (draft or preliminary) versions of articles, conference papers and/or posters, book chapters, white papers, and more. These repositories help speed up dissemination and enhance discoverability and access to early-stage scholarship across disciplines.
It is important to note that these materials have likely not been edited or benefited from the pivotal role of peer-review, which validates and improves the quality of final published journal articles.
- Marketing Research Network (MKT)An open access outlet for researchers to disseminate the latest ideas and scholarly work in marketing.
- Rhetoric & Writing Research Network (RWRN)Repository of scholarly research in contemporary and classical rhetoric and writing theory, professional and technical communication, argumentation and persuasion, visual and other multimodal writing, and more.
- SocArXivSocArXiv, open archive of the social sciences, provides a free, non-profit, open access platform for social scientists to upload working papers, preprints, and published papers, with the option to link data and code.
- Social Science Research NetworkThe Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is a huge open-access repository for scholarly papers in law, the social sciences, business, and some other disciplines. Hundreds of thousands of authors have posted abstracts and papers. SSRN has over 750,000 abstracts—and most of the papers are available for free download (PDF).
Sources for Data and Statistics
These sources provide additional research projects and even large collections of social data that can deepen your understanding or be the basis for your original analysis.
- StatistaAggregates statistical information on over 60,000 topics from more than 18,000 sources, including market research institutes, trade organizations, scientific journals, government databases, and many other private and public resources. Find more detailed information.
- Statistical Abstract of the United StatesThe best known and most popular single source of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. This database is designed to serve as a convenient, easy-to-use statistical reference source and as a guide to statistical publications and sources.
- ICPSR (Inter University Consortium for Political and Social Research)ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, including a data archive of more than 500,000 files of research in the social sciences. It hosts 16 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminology, criminal justice, social work, sociology, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields.
- Roper iPOLLThe largest collection of poll data anywhere—1935 to present, all US polling firms, broad topical coverage of opinions and behavior on social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, and more. International and US datasets available for immediate download. Find more information.
- Social ExplorerSocial Explorer provides professional-quality demographic data from the most trusted sources, including the Decennial Census, American Community Survey (ACS), County Business Patterns, Population Estimates, LEHD and more.
- Sage DataSearch and browse datasets sourced from over 70 authoritative government and private sources, covering 16 subject areas. The platform's powerful functionality allows users to manipulate datasets, compare multiple indicators, chart trends over time and spatially represent data without requiring additional software programs. Find more information.
Find Background Information
These resources offer basic, factual, and reliable information about a topic, industry, or company. Start here if you're less familiar with a topic or need background information about dates, events, markets, and more.
- Opposing Viewpoints in ContextOpposing Viewpoints in Context is the premier online resource covering today’s important social issues. Featuring continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites, this database provides quick and easy access to content on frequently studied and discussed issues.
- Credo ReferenceCredo Reference is an online full-text library that covers all major subjects such as art, business geography, history, literature, music, psychology, social Sciences, and technology. It includes general reference resources such as dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, and atlases, plus a wide range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to zoology. It offers easy keyword searching across the database of resources so you don’t need to know the title of a specific reference book to get started. Search in hundreds of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 200,000+ images and audio files, and nearly 200 videos.
- Sage KnowledgeSearch through reference collections from Sage Publications, Inc. Hundreds of SAGE Reference titles providing students with the perfect place to start their research on key topics in the social and behavioral sciences
- IBISWorldA comprehensive collection of Industry Market Research. IBISWorld is a powerful business tool to learn about existing clients or potential clients’ core industries of involvement & how changes to those industries can have an impact on you or your organization. Includes US NAICS Industry Reports, US Specialized Industry Reports, US Business Environment Profiles and Global Industry Reports. Find more information.
- Mergent OnlineMergent Online, source for global business and financial information on over 10,000 U.S. public companies, and 17,000+ non-U.S. public companies, as well as extensive corporate and municipal bond, UIT, and dividend information. Find more information.
Streaming Video Collections
- Docuseek2Essential documentary films for higher education, includes over 800 streaming video titles. Searchable, interactive transcripts. Videos can be linked to or embedded in Blackboard. Features exclusive educational streaming access to content from Bullfrog Films, Collective Eye Films, Icarus Films (including The Fanlight Collection and dGenerate Films), Kartemquin Films, the National Film Board of Canada, Scorpion TV Sincerely Films, Terra Nova Films and Villon Films. Find more information.
- Ethnographic Video OnlineA comprehensive online resource for the visual study of human culture, behavior and society around the world. The collections contain over 1,300 hours of streaming video, including ethnographic films, documentaries, select feature films, and previously unpublished fieldwork. It’s also a resource for a study of the discipline itself: By placing examples of traditional ethnographic methodologies alongside indigenous-made films representing previously overlooked perspectives, scholars, teachers and students of anthropology can gain a sense of the discipline’s history and of its future direction. Includes access to Volumes 1 - 4.
- Feature Films for EducationMore than 675 feature films available to stream in a variety of genres.
- Kanopy StreamingStreaming films and documentaries available through the UNCW subscription.